Like many other members of this group, I have been a Teaching Artist (TA) for many years and joined TAMA to network, take advantage of the incredible resources like the pay rate calculator, and participate in advocacy for our under-acknowledged and under-represented occupation. TAMA empowers regional TAs to make informed decisions about our career paths and financial worth and to represent ourselves as the skilled professionals we are. It advocates on local, regional, and national levels to increase awareness, visibility, and recognition. TAMA is run by and for teaching artists. Currently, the staff are all volunteers and there are no membership fees. TAMA staff operate on a thin budget that barely covers essentials like website updates, bookkeeping, etc. while also juggling their own careers and personal lives. Meanwhile, TAMA provides so much value to its members: guest speakers; webinars; job boards; an online directory that hiring organizations can access; online and in-person meetups; and substantial advocacy including a recent submission to the Dept. of Labor to recognize teaching artistry as a standard occupational code.
TAMA does so much with so little and any donation goes a long way.
Teaching Artists Of The Mid-Atlantic (TAMA) empowers, educates, and enlightens many artists who choose to make a living in his/her art form. As a performance and teaching artist myself, earning payment by using ones beloved art form is not romantic by any stretch of the imagination. It is truly a daily grind and TAMA provides the necessary tools and information to help people like myself; as well as joining a community of like-minded individuals. Where hope has become cliche, TAMA is the pragmatic source for working artists today! Thank you TAMA. --Groovy Nate
TAMA works hard to support the needs and wellbeing of Teaching Artists. They are a much needed advocate.
Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic exists for teaching artists, standing as a cornerstone of support, advocacy, and empowerment. It amplifies the voices of those who transform communities through creativity, offering resources, connections, and opportunities that elevate the impact of their work and solidify their role as leaders in arts education and social change.
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I joined TAMA Cafe at the beginning of the pandemic. I have enjoyed amazing networking, meet teaching artist friends, shared our stories, and created teaching ideas. We moved through the hard time and learned how to help people return to art-making. It's great to be part of this Teaching Artist community and to support each other in our advocacy and grow our community and individual teaching artist businesses at the same time. Empowering and inspiring each other is the best!
TAMA (Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic) has become a valuable resource for me. I'm a Teaching Artist, and the information, advocacy, and community opportunities it promotes, are helpful tools for me and my practice. I, like many TA's, work with a variety of organizations so to have a space dedicated soley to the advancement and sustainability of our work is essential.
I joined this organization recently and already I am making connections in my community and feeling more empowered to do my arts education work. It is so important that arts education facilitators have a place to connect with others and find ways to invest in our community. Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic plays a crucial role in the arts education landscape of this region.
Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic is a valuable resource for the community. TAMA's teaching artist directory provides a comprehensive list of artists. It is the only directory showcasing Teaching Artists from the entire Mid-Atlantic Region. These artists offer programming in various art forms, including puppetry, painting, dance, etc. Schools, libraries, and other community groups can use this directory to find the perfect artist to fit their needs.
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I've been a volunteer and board member with TAMA for three years. Participating in TAMA has improved, encouraged, and positively informed my professional practice as a teaching artist. TAMA provides an environment fostering growth, advocacy, and advancement for teaching artists throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. TAMA is a valuable resource for teaching artists.
Teaching Artists of the Mid Atlantic has been an active and vital part of my career as a teaching artist. The ability to meet, network and create with other TA's outside of my home region has been a bright spot in my professional development, as well as an important support group during the Covid shutdown. Important work for the future of our educational system.
I’ve been a teaching artist/visual artist for more than twenty years in the DMV. I learned about Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic in 2020. I joined in their zoom meetings and found incredible support as a teaching artist and independent contractor. My colleagues shared resources and encouraged me in so many ways. Being part of TAMA has brought connection which I’ve never had before as an independent contractor. It’s made me a better teacher. People help each other and lift each other up. We’re all able to be better teachers in our community.
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I learned about TAMA at the beginning of the pandemic. I'm fortunate to have this connection. I've become an active member, as I'm on the nominating committee. TAMA has helped to make me a better teaching artist. I always feel supported by fellow teaching artists. It was the encouragement from TAMA and information shared in our Zoom Cafes that made me apply to the state teaching artist roster and to become better informed about our state arts council. I have opportunities I never would have had. You're not alone. We help each other succeed and manage our work and take care of ourselves.
Members and volunteer leadership in particular put in a tremendous amount of work to empower teaching artists to bring the arts to the community, including kids, seniors, people who are LGBTQ, BIPOC, veterans, incarcerated, and others. They do so through advocacy, training, discussion, workshops, and by providing resources that empower teachers to earn a living wage while bringing arts programming to the community.
Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic (TAMA) has been an incredible source of support for me, providing a community that cheers me on, holds me accountable, and helps me grow my business through collaborative brainstorming and more. Yet, I believe TAMA's true strength lies in our capacity to engage in meaningful dialogues with businesses, state leaders, and key decision-makers. Through these discussions, TAMA members assert Their professionalism and command the respect they deserve as a professional occupation.
TAMA is currently collaborating directly with Arts Administrators with a supportive network that addresses the challenges they face in equitably supporting Teaching Artists, guided by TAMA's Professional Teaching Artist Principles. In August 2024, TAMA made significant progress by drafting a recommendation to the Federal Department of Labor, advocating for the inclusion of "Teaching Artist" in the nation's Standardized Occupational Classification System. This initiative is crucial to ensuring that Teaching Artist contributions to the community are recognized and receive much needed support.
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For 30 years, I have worked as a theatre artist, facilitating arts-learning and arts-making experiences for schools and communities. Teaching artists work with many different members of society, embedding their creative practices into our communities. We are a group of dynamic and varied artists who lift up the voice, develop empathy and understanding, provide healing, create connections, and generate effective solutions using art! We significantly contribute to the vibrancy and well-being of communities nationwide!
But as we contribute, we silently and invisibly suffer. During the pandemic, we were the first to be fired, furloughed, or receive reduced work despite our crucial role in serving organizations' public benefit and mission. Historically, we were already a population at risk, with most of us working without a labor union advocating on our behalf. Primarily hired as part-time or independent contractors, often paid by the hour or the length of service, we face significant obstacles without the traditional benefits of healthcare contributions, pensions, sick leave, and the security of tenure.
These challenges drove me to cofound the Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic. I am so proud of what we have accomplished as an organization by, for, and about mid-Atlantic Teaching Artists. We work as an all-volunteer collective, growing from local networks seeded across the region, solutions to the problems we face. We have collectively written and promoted TAMA's Professional Teaching Artist Principles to advance solidarity and justice in the field and are increasingly recognized as critical voices.
With funds donated by TAMA members, we launched the first website for Mid-Atlantic Teaching Artists that is helping to raise awareness about teaching artistry and bringing visibility to our individual practices, projects, and programs. TeachingArtists.org is quickly becoming a space for communication, collaboration, and advocacy for all stakeholders - from artists to employers to funders to participants!
All of TAMA has changed me. I am because we are! Two small examples: I have built personal collaborations with colleagues in other art forms I never imagined were possible, and I have maximized opportunities that are blocks from my home (no more paying to do this work by spending hours in a car transporting myself to a gig that is over an hour away or by accepting a gig from an organization that undervalues my work barely paying me the costs of my gas).
I'm looking forward to the year ahead, where Teaching Artists will continue to be recognized, valued, and funded as professionals and for TAMA to increase their support and empowerment so that mid-Atlantic Teaching Artists can continue to use their creativity and intelligence to shape and transform the region and world!
Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic/TAMA does so much with so little budget. They serve a vital and overlooked field of artists who dedicate themselves to schools and communities. This workforce of teaching artists has no other networking, so TAMA find ways to advocate for them, to raise visibility, and to network them. This is the highest impact workforce you have never heard of—because no funders support them. That's because they fall between funding cracks. TAMA steps up and makes a real difference for this field. They have an energized membership, working groups, and real savvy about the field and its context. They are super cost-efficient, and make such a difference. They are national leaders that set an inspiring example and serve with such fierce dedication and belief that the arts can make a huge difference in the lives of young people and communities.
This organization is a wonderful resource for Teaching Artists! I'm grateful for all the work they do advocating and organizing the profession.
I initially joined TAMA as a Teaching Artist simply looking for a place to connect with other TAs. What I found was so much more! Here Teaching Artists are joining with other supporters to collaborate, educate, and advocate. TAMA emphasizes that Teaching Artists are professionals. TAMA has developed a clear vision and mission to advance the field of teaching artistry, arts education, creative life-long learning, and the arts sector. TAMA empowers Teaching Artists to take the lead in advocacy as small business owners. TAMA recognizes the contributions Teaching Artists make in impacting and shaping their communities as well as transforming individuals. The important work of TAMA creates positive change not only for the profession of Teaching Artist, but also for the individuals whose lives they touch, for the organizations who recognize their value, and for local communities and beyond that benefit. I am honored to be a member and donor.
I've been connected to TAMA since first learning about it in 2018. It is my natural professional home, and has helped me to articulate my needs and those of my colleagues in impactful ways, financially, as well as in building and strengthening relationships with organizations.
Regular online gatherings help in learning, information sharing, resources and opportunities. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was struggling with my online demonstration set-up and learned from a NJ member and a DC member how to do this better. That was a game changer for me.
TAMA has provided a roadmap for all members in the growth of their practice and business through a variety of resources, and in successfully advancing the professionalism of this field. The eight TAMA principles are invaluable for us all in advocacy for ourselves and collectively. My journey led me to join the board and further our advocacy efforts. I'm very glad to be a member of the TAMA community at large. Together we are better!
Great for supporting Teaching Artists on their creative journeys! TAMA has so many ways of connecting to communities throughout the region. They do a great job with advocacy and with outreach. Wonderful to have a professional organization that takes teaching artistry seriously.
I'm a TAMA member and my experience has always been highly educational, met with like-minded individuals striving for the same objective. TAMA is the vanguard for change in the Teaching Artist community, changing the perspective from being a starving uninformed artist to a knowledgeable business person.
TAMA is an organization of action that speaks truth to power. It provide a platform where diversity lives freely, ideas are shared openly, and support for every talent is paramount.
Since joining TAMA, my TA fee has increased by 20% due to TAMA providing me with the resources needed to demand what I’m worth and not let other organizations control my livelihood.
I can’t tell you how many times TAMA’s support
group of TAs lifted my spirits when times were rough and encouraged me to keep going.
For me, TAMA is Love and Power!
Tama is so well organized and inclusive the meetings are inspirational, memorable and propulsive. When Tama has events they are thoughtful, efficient and usually a lot of fun. Teaching artists as instructional designers combine elements of the creative with discipline with respect to epistomology which naturally makes them environmental engineers and social impact specialists. In other words, if the arts is an exchange of power and creativity is linked to happiness then what TAMA people do is teach people how to step into their power and be happy. What could be more important than that? TAMA gives those specific practictioners the affirmation or green light they need resolve and repair.
TAMA is an incredible networking opportunity for teaching artists to connect, find mentors, and learn advocacy. In a profession that can often feel isolating, TAMA provides a community of working professionals who provide insight and reassurance. As a new teaching artist myself, I have gained a great deal of understanding on how to stand firm to what my time and talent is worth, and understand that neglecting to adhere to that standard not only disrespects me, but hurts the whole community.
I love being a member of the Maryland chapter of Teaching Artists Of The Mid-Atlantic!! They are a resourceful group that shares a wealth of knowledge regarding program design, networking, and social media marketing. TAMA offers support to fellow teaching artists by advertising their programs, connecting teaching artists with funding sources and advocacy. This is definitely an organization worthy of your support.
I'm new to TAMA, but with decades of teaching experience. I'm impressed with their mission to support, empower, and advocate for Teaching Artists in the mid-Atlantic region, serving as a model and resource for mid-Atlantic stakeholders who value and recognize Teaching Artists as influential paid professionals of an equitable and vibrant arts ecosystem.